Biographical Note:
Tiffany Crum grew up on a dairy farm just down the road from a maximum security prison. A longtime Californian, she worked various jobs in the film industry before earning her MFA in creative writing. She now lives in Atlanta with her husband, sons, and dogs, and spends her free time trying to keep her vegetable garden alive. This Story Might Save Your Life is her debut novel.
Review Quotes:
"Both a riveting mystery and a love story, This Story Might Save Your Life is one of the best thrillers I've read this year. Crum's book is perfectly paced and unputdownable, with vividly drawn characters I won't soon forget. I devoured it!"
--Amy Tintera, New York Times bestselling author of Listen for the Lie
"A heart-pounding thriller and a heart-melting romance, this is the most compelling novel I've read in years. Brace yourselves for a full body experience."
--Annabel Monaghan, New York Times bestselling author of It's a Love Story
"Unmissable. . . Crum's cheery romance-mystery mashup. . . is cleverly told. . . It's worth going along for the ride."
--New York Times Book Review
"Thrills, a mystery and romance. . . This book is destined to be a book club favorite in 2026, with an endearing cast of characters and fast pace. Reading it won't save your life, but it will add pleasure to it."
--Denver Post
"I truly loved reading This Story Might Save Your Life. The pace was terrific, and it was so smart and engrossing. The pages practically turn themselves in this nuanced thriller. I couldn't put it down!"
--Nina Simon, New York Times bestselling author of Mother-Daughter Murder Night
"By turns hilarious, harrowing, heartbreaking, and profound, Crum's mystery ticks every box. It's a triumph."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Beautifully written with big heart and big twists, this is a mystery wrapped inside a love story. A stunning debut and an exciting new voice in the genre. I loved it."
--Alice Feeney, New York Times bestselling author of My Husband's Wife
"Debut author Tiffany Crum expertly unpicks a tangled web of misplaced loyalty, unrequited love and the price of success in her riveting thriller."
--BookPage (starred review)
"A perfect diversion."
--V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
"A timely novel for fans of the growing trend of books featuring podcasters, such as Amy Tintera's Listen for the Lie."
--Library Journal
"A whip-smart mystery. A love story that lingers. This Story Might Save Your Life is as clever as it is heartfelt, with sparkling prose, characters you can't help but love, and a suspenseful puzzle at its core. Tiffany Crum's debut--and what a debut!--had me feverishly turning pages, and when it ended, I found myself wishing I could stay in her world just a little longer."
--Kelsey Cox, USA TODAY bestselling author of Party of Liars
"This is one of my favorite reads of the year and bound to be the biggest book of 2026. A perfect blend of sleep-depriving thriller and swoony rom-com. . . If Lisa Jewell and Emily Henry wrote a book together, it would look something like this."
-Alessandra Ranelli, author of Murder at the Hotel Orient
"Crum's gripping debut teases out the elements of intrigue just like a true-crime podcast while also crafting a root-for love story grounded in soul-deep friendship. Equal parts heartfelt and tension-laced, this is a book that will appeal to fans of domestic suspense and avid podcast listeners."
-- Booklist
"This story might keep you up all night. What an absolutely addictive page-turner! Just when you think you might be able to turn out the light, another chapter ends with another challenge: how are you going to quit now? The bonds of friendship, family, and marriage are tested again and again as a couple goes missing without any apparent reason -- until the chapters of a soul-baring memoir begin to reveal what might have gone wrong. This Story Might Save Your Life is intimate, fast-paced, twisty, and completely satisfying."
--Natalie Keller Reinert, author of The Eventing series
"A compelling love story with the pulse of a thriller, it's Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow meets Lisa Jewell's None of This is True. You'll have to read it to find out if this story really will save your life, but I guarantee it will keep you up reading way past your bedtime."
--Emma Cowing, author of The Show Woman
"This Story Might Save Your Life is a gripping, unique debut you won't want to miss. It's a meticulously plotted mystery wrapped up in a tender love story, a book that is as funny as it is sad; hugely uplifting, but unflinching when it comes to the darkness at the heart of some people. Joy and Benny's story of survival will stay with me for a long time."
--Cressida McLaughlin, bestselling author of A Cornish Love Story
"An expertly crafted mystery, with a heartfelt will-they-won't-they romance at the core, This Story Might Save Your Life is complex and deeply immersive, with characters that leap from the page. Tiffany Crum's splashy debut breaks genre barriers in a fresh, exciting way."
--Ashley Tate, international bestselling author of Twenty-Seven Minutes
"This five-star audiobook sets the gold standard for audio drama. Crum's debut is raw, yet beautifully crafted, pulling listeners in from the very first chapter. . . Recommended for readers of and listeners of true-crime podcasts, Gone Girl, and Listen for the Lie and related fiction like I Have Some Questions for You."
-- Booklist (starred review), audiobook
"The novel's did-they-or-didn't-they/will-they-or-won't-they tease goes down like a fizzy drink."
-- Kirkus
"A clever and complex mystery fuses with an epic love story in a stunning debut that's both heart-pounding and heartbreaking. This story will definitely stay with you long after turning the final page."
--Lisa Gray, bestselling author of Thin Air
Publisher Marketing:
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"Both a riveting mystery and a love story, This Story Might Save Your Life is one of the best thrillers I've read this year." --Amy Tintera, bestselling author of Listen for the Lie
"A heart-pounding thriller and a heart-melting romance, this is the most compelling novel I've read in years." --Annabel Monaghan, New York Times bestselling author of It's a Love Story
Best friends Benny and Joy like to say they've been saving each other's lives since the moment they met. Until the day Joy disappears and Benny is suspected of murder . . .
Benny Abbott and Joy Moore host one of the most beloved podcasts in the world. Each week, they delight listeners with a different "against all odds" survival story, gleefully finding the weird, life-affirming humor in near-death experiences. Since their first episode on Joy's experience with severe narcolepsy, they've been the best friends everyone wants to befriend--and thanks to the meticulous management of Joy's husband, Xander, they've built a lucrative empire.
The problem is, their next survival story may be their own. When Benny arrives at Joy and Xander's one morning to record, he finds shattered glass and an empty house. The one clue shedding light on the couple's disappearance is the incomplete, previously unseen first draft of Joy's memoir. Benny is desperate to find them, even when the police soon zero in on him as their prime suspect.
Millions of devoted listeners think they know the "real" Benny and Joy. But as the hours tick by, and the odds seem increasingly stacked against Joy and Xander being found alive, not even the most devoted fans could guess the terrible secrets their favorite famous BFFs have hidden from the world--and from each other.
"I truly loved reading This Story Might Save Your Life. The pace was terrific, and it was so smart and engrossing. The pages practically turn themselves in this nuanced thriller. I couldn't put it down!"
--Nina Simon, bestselling author of Mother-Daughter Murder Night
Review Citations:
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Publishers Weekly 01/12/2026 (EAN 9781250395238, Hardcover) - *Starred Review
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Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2026 (EAN 9781250395238, Hardcover)
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Booklist 02/01/2026 (EAN 9781250395238, Hardcover)
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Library Journal 12/01/2025 pg. 55 (EAN 9781250395238, Hardcover)
Contributor Bio:Crum, Tiffany
Tiffany Crum is a writer from Southern California. After many years in Los Angeles, she now lives with her husband and two teenage sons in Atlanta, Georgia. This Story Might Save Your Life is her debut novel.
